A Prior Engagement

by S. L. Scott

  Walter had liked William immediately, but now he really liked him. “Starving student, huh?”

  “Something like that. Actually, exactly like that.” They shared a laugh, bonding over baseball and honesty.

  Walter rushed and opened the door for a tenant and when she was on the elevator, he turned back to William and said, “Miss Wright’s a wonderful girl.” He tried to sound relaxed like it was everyday conversation, but for some reason he wanted more information. He didn’t tend to stick his nose in resident’s business, but when it came to Evie, he hoped for her to live a better life than the one she was living and this new man might be the key to that.

  William knew it was a statement, but still felt the need to address it. “She’s a great girl.” He felt his cheeks heat, but he didn’t know why, so he looked down at his sneakers as a distraction.

  Walter knew in that instant that William was the reason for her better, happier moods of late and he could tell he sincerely liked her. He wasn’t going to ruin it with the mention of moody abusive fiancés. He figured that was a situation for them to talk to each other about in private.

  William smiled. “I should get going. Thanks for getting the bag back to her and it was nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Walter said, rushing past him to hold the door open. “I should get back to work.”

  William nodded and shook Walter’s hand as he walked out. “Yes, and the game.”

  They shared a laugh as William left.

  Everleigh felt a wave of relief at ten-thirty when Tom announced he needed a good night’s rest and was heading home. She felt almost giddy entering her room and locking her door, now having the time she needed to process her day, her feelings, and her thoughts of William.

  As Tom walked through the lobby, Walter held the door open for him. Seeing the doorman reminded Tom he had to cover Everleigh’s fare tonight. Finding that odd, he acted as casual and friendly as he could and as if the thought just occurred to him, he asked, “Everleigh mentioned you paid her fare this evening. Thank you for taking care of her. By the way, do you recall how much her fare was by chance?” Tom stood there pondering this while eyeing Walter.

  Walter knew this thought had not just occurred to Mr. Whitney and was never casual with him. He was up to something for sure, so he covered for Evie. “I think it was around ten dollars.”

  “All right. She took care of you?”

  “Yes, sir. But I was happy to help.”

  He nodded once more. “Have a nice night, Walter.” For some reason, Tom did not feel as satisfied as he thought he would. Everleigh had stayed close according to Walter, but she came home with nothing, no shopping bags, no purse, not even her book bag. He felt his frustration growing, but decided he would not address the issue tonight. He had been working on a business deal that was becoming a royal pain in the ass and it was wearing his patience down. He wanted to go home and go to bed. Well, he really wanted to have sex and release some of the tension he was carrying around with him, but seeing Everleigh tonight, he knew that wasn’t going to happen.

  She was distant and fearful, but also somewhat confrontational and irrational. Tom almost didn’t recognize the girl he fell in love with. He knew she was in there and he was willing to move forward with her knowing that she just needed reminders of what they once shared. Basically, she needed to be handled even if that meant manipulated.

  Walter waited for Tom to leave before ringing the Wright residence. Audrey answered, telling Walter she would let Evie know about the bag. Within five minutes, Evie bounded into the lobby and straight for Walter’s desk. She leaned over and saw the bag tucked behind his chair. As he handed it to her, she eagerly waited for him to say something, anything, that would let her know he knew what was going on or give a clue that he was still oblivious to her escapades. She needed to know if she was going to be busted or if her secret was safe.

  “That’s a heavy bag, Miss . . . I mean, Evie. It’s good to have friends who will carry that for you when exploring the park.”

  He wasn’t asking her a specific question, but she wanted to know about William’s visit. “Yes, it is.” Her smile sank as she realized he wasn’t going to give her the information she desired, and she turned back toward the elevators.

  Walter wanted to make her happy again. He had daughters and knew how they wanted everyone to feed into their schoolgirl notions. “William seems like a real upstanding kind of guy.”

  Evie stopped, and spun on her heels to face him. After closing the distance between them, she leaned against the desk. “Yes, he is. It was very nice of him to bring this by tonight.”

  “Yeah, he mentioned where he lived and your building is not really on the way home for him.”

  Her face was lit up talking about William, even if in veiled conversation. “No, it’s not,” she admitted. “Did he leave a message for me by chance?”

  “No.” Walter looked around to make sure no one but she could hear him then lowered his voice to a whisper. “But he looked disappointed not to be able to see you again.” She remained smiling at him, but confusion also flashed across her eyes. “I didn’t ring because I knew you wouldn’t want to be disturbed while Mr. Whitney was visiting.” He gave her an I’m-in-the-know-about-that-guy look.

  She realized Walter knew more about Tom than she cared to discuss, but more important was that she realized how he covered for her tonight. Tom went home none the wiser and that was a good thing. “Walter,” she rested her hand on his and said, “Thank you for everything.”

  “You’re very welcome. Please feel free to ask me if you need any assistance in the future.”

  “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind. Goodnight.”

  She returned to her bedroom and pulled her textbooks out of her bag, retiring them to her bookcase before clearing out the bag in preparation for her new books for Lang’s summer course. She also pulled her purse and phone out, setting them on her desk. As she removed her pen case from the backpack, she saw a piece of paper crammed inside. After unlatching the case, she pulled the paper out. The words were written in black ink: “Better to be without logic than without feeling.” She recognized the famous quote from Charlotte Bronte’s The Professor.

  Her eyes scanned further down, and she read: “Dearest Evie, you have left me bewildered and with immense emotion. Love, William.” She had caused him to lose his logic as he had done to her. She was surprised by his beautiful note and it made her feel like anything was possible.

  Her days had been overflowing with thoughts of him, but she had no idea he had immense emotions for her as well. She didn’t know he was feeling the same until he made that simple declaration. Her heart swelled just thinking about him taking the time to write the note, in black ink, and putting it in her case. Holding the note over her heart, she swooned, flopping down on her bed.

  Lying there, she realized their plight. She didn’t know when she started thinking this way, but she did know how to describe their relationship. Deep in her heart, she knew it was ‘us against them’ and she was willing to fight the battle. To be by William’s side gave her strength and she would use that strength when the time came. Everything changed for Everleigh this night.

  She wanted to talk to him, to kiss him, to be with him, but she knew tonight she couldn’t, so she did all she thought she could—she texted him: Thank You.

  He responded quickly, ending the anxiety building within her: You’re Welcome.

  She wanted to say one last thing to him so he understood she had immense emotions for him also, and she texted: You had my heart when I saw the black ink. Sweet Dreams.

  William understood now. It had occurred to him while he was writing his note in his usual blue ink. Blue didn’t seem to give the words enough meaning. Blue ink was not expressing the depth of the feelings he wanted to share with her. He dug out the old black pen he had stolen from work last week and rewrote the note. As he read it back to himself, he understood the importance of the black ink. It was for
contracts and serious documents, or for letters with meaning. Black ink was for love letters, poems, and works of written art. William would never interchange blue and black ink again. Evie gave him a newfound respect for not just written declarations, but also for the instrument that allowed those confessions of the heart to be professed through the purest form of art and poetry.

  He texted her one last time for the night: Sweet dreams, my beautiful Evie.

  After the final text, he set his phone down and flipped off the television so he could lay with his thoughts. He performed his regular nighttime routine then fell into bed swimming in immense emotions for the girl who made him feel true love for the first time.

  Chapter 14

  Due to other obligations, William and Evie didn’t get to see each other until the following Monday—the first day of Professor Lang’s Summer Program. The ten students chosen gathered in the English Department’s second floor lounge and waited for the Professor to arrive. Evie leaned on a short bookcase overlooking the quad and started to think about the discussion she had with Tom and her parents in East Hampton over the weekend.

  Tom stood with his back to her, gazing out at the ocean. “I don’t understand why you’ve chosen to make a commitment without regarding what your family’s needs are this summer.”

  “I’m not going to be rushing between home and the Hamptons all summer.” She looked at Tom, putting her foot down. “I haven’t taken any summer courses before so I could be here for the family and for you. If I take this seminar then I can graduate. So this summer, school is my priority.”

  He turned to face her, drink in hand. “Your top priority should be spending time with me, with your family, seeing your friends. Balancing business and social responsibility.”

  “I won’t be missed if I don’t attend any parties.” She got up from the chair and walked right past him onto the vast green, manicured lawn toward the ocean. “I think I’m going to use this summer to focus on me, since it’s apparent this is the last time I’ll ever get to.” On that brazen note, she dashed toward the water, not looking back until she reached the beach. Suddenly, she felt more Evie than Everleigh and relished the freedom she felt. She was strong, and she liked it.

  Kicking her shoes off, she walked across the sand until she stood at the water’s edge, and thought of William. Away from his presence, guilt settled into her heart, twisting in pain. She was leading him on and she knew that now.

  Their story would be short-lived, at best. He would reject her once she told him she was engaged and she would deserve that. Her heart ached while her eyes watered over the pain she knew was coming. He would hate her, but not more than she hated herself for lying to him.

  William rubbed her arm, bringing her attention back to the lounge where the students were waiting. “Lang’s here.”

  The Professor entered the room, commanding their attention. “Ladies and Gentleman, let’s lay the ground rules. This is not an orthodox program and you are my guinea pigs.” He laughed, rubbing his hands together in an evil fashion. “Now for the good stuff. I need you in pairs. I’ll dole out assignments and both team members are responsible for the work done, or the work not done. You will share a grade and hold each other accountable. I need one person reporting the team’s progress to me once a week.”

  Evie glanced at William, hope building when their eyes met.

  The professor continued talking. “We have an opportunity to analyze a set of rare books by Thomas Kyd and Wilkie Collins. I will give you each a selection of short stories in which you will help determine the authenticity of the works. This is groundbreaking research, people. As much as I know you love the romantics, this can be a great discovery in literature if we can determine the rightful authors.” He held the books up wearing white gloves then set them back down on his desk. “The pages have been copied for us and you will use those photocopies as your reference. Choose your partner and tell me your author preference.”

  William and Evie immediately turned to each other. William spoke first. “Will you be my partner?”

  “You didn’t have to ask.”

  “I wanted to. Kyd or Collins? You choose.” He smiled, realizing how much time he was going to get to spend with her.

  “I’m not into detective stories. My vote is for Kyd. We’ll also have The Spanish Tragedy as a reference to compare to.”

  “Good idea.” He looked at her, pointed to himself, and asked, “Do you want me to be the team liaison, or would you like to do it?”

  Evie slid down into a leather chair, getting comfortable. “You can do it.”

  After chatting with the professor, he returned holding a small stack of papers and sat down on the arm of her chair. “Basically, we have three weeks to complete the research, turning the paper in on the fourth week. We also have to be here on Fridays for a weekly check-in and go over our findings for the week. It looks to me like we’ll be spending most of our time at the library.”

  “Great! I think we should consider doing a day trip to Philadelphia. Their main library has a great historical novel and play collection, including British authors.”

  “We’ll definitely have to work that in, then. I’ve never been,” he said, impressed by her knowledge. “You want to go over to Bean There and start looking over these two short stories?”

  “Coffee sounds perfect.”

  They grabbed their bags and walked the few short blocks to the coffee house.

  William ordered their usual then went to sit down at their tables. She had pushed them together, making him smile.

  With both laptops out, they started doing the basic legwork online to confirm or eliminate these stories as an original Thomas Kyd work. Nothing showed up online which excited them both equally. William pointed to her laptop screen, and said, “This makes it a true mystery to be solved.”

  “We’re embarking on something big here,” she said with a glint in her eyes.

  His heart leapt. “The stories or us?”

  She couldn’t stop the feelings bubbling up, forgetting all about what she should and what she really wanted to say to him. Instead, she spoke from the heart. “Both.”

  William analyzed the shape of her pink lips as she formed the word, and he repeated, “Both.”

  “William . . . William?” she said, bumping him with her elbow.

  He snapped out of it, startled. “Oh! Yes?”

  She tapped the papers tucked under her computer and demanded in a playful tone, “Focus!”

  “I’m focused . . . now.” Smirking at her, he poked her lightheartedly in the ribs, making her giggle.

  A few hours later, they packed their bags, knowing they had overstayed the time the cost of their coffee warranted.

  William’s phone rang when they got outside. “It’s my brother. Do you mind waiting a moment?”

  Evie signaled for him to answer it as they stood on the busy sidewalk.

  “Dallas, hey, what’s up?” William listened to him explain how Abby had broken up with him for a guy who went to Boston College. Dallas was upset and rambling.

  “Uh huh.” He interjected when Dallas stopped for air. William doled out reassurances. “Abby was nice and I know you liked her, maybe even loved. She was the first girl you were with, but this is how things work.” He lowered his voice. “Most people don’t end up with the person they lose their virginity to. I know you don’t want to hear this from your older and much wiser brother, but I’m happy to oblige since you called me. There will be others, Dallas, trust me, and yes, you will have sex again.” William was trying to comfort his brother without downplaying his brothers’ feelings.

  When he looked up, he saw Evie watching him. Keeping his eyes on her, he tried to wrap up the call. “You will find who you’re meant to be with.” William sat on a chair outside the coffee shop and finished his dating pep talk. “Abby was your first, not your last. Come on, dude, the girls are crazy about you. Enjoy being single for a while.”

  Evie turned toward the busy s
treet seeming to be lost in thought again.

  “Give yourself a few days and the world will be golden again, Dallas, and come to the city. We’ll go out. You’re out of school and you can stay at my place for a few days.” The brothers said their good-byes and hung up.

  William stood and joined Evie a few feet away. She smiled, but he could tell it was just for show. Her eyes gave her away. “Are you all right?”

  “Do you really believe that?” Evie asked skeptically.

  “What?”

  “That no one ends up with the person they lose their virginity to?” She tilted her head and looked at him while she waited for his answer.

  “I, uh . . .” He thought it was interesting she picked up on that part of the conversation. “Can I ask you something personal?”

  She looked down to the ground, but then fixed her posture with her arms crossed in front of her body and looked back up. “Yes, you may.”

  “Are you a virgin?” William was direct.

  Evie’s face immediately turned red with embarrassment.

  Not meaning to make her feel self-conscious, he grabbed her and pulled her against him.

  She always felt protected in his arms, and whispered, “No.”

  He smiled that she trusted him enough to share that kind of intimate detail. Lowering his head so he could see her, he said, “See, that proves my point.”

  Her eyes closed and she inhaled his scent as the realization that he was right set in. One thing she knew for sure was that Tom was not her true love.

  William felt victorious and on an Evie high, he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Stepping back, he said, “I have to go to work. Will you meet me tomorrow?”

  “Tomorrow is too far away, but yes, I’ll wait until tomorrow.”

  Tilting her chin up, he kissed her on the mouth. With his lips still pressed against hers, he whispered, “Good-bye, my love.”

  She stood stunned to the spot, as he turned and left. Her insides were in complete disarray at the word “love” being given so freely to her. Love had always come with a price . . . until now.